The need to shift to a contextualized and collective mental health paradigm: learning from crisis-hit Lebanon

Abstract

The impact of national and international crises and disasters on population mental health has been well established, with poorer mental health and a higher incidence of mental disorders documented during war and armed conflict ( Charlson et al., 2019), political instability and anti-government protests (Kai Hou et al., 2015), natural disasters (Makwana, 2019), economic crises (Bartoll et al., 2013), mass displacement (Morina et al., 2018), and linked more broadly to inequality, poverty and social injustices (Lund et al., 2010).Following the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health has been highlighted as a global priority in response to the fallout of the crisis, with the toll of lockdown, loss of jobs, increase in domestic violence, and lower social support impacting the wellbeing and functioning of affected populations (Holmes et al., 2020; UNHCR, 2020a; WHO, 2020).Research has shown that such crises, particularly when chronic, have an impact beyond the experience of the individual, affecting the functioning of families, communities, and wider social structures and socio-political systems (Sousa, 2013;Somasundaram, 2014).Despite major advances in the development and implementation of interventions in responding to crises and emergencies, there remain significant gaps in the evidence-base for public mental health responses that are sufficiently contextualized to this collective suffering.

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